Playing w/ backlighting

It just dawned on me that this is the same rose that I used in my background pic...I had picked it from our rose bush because it was so perfect...now that it's dried I'm drawn to it's colours still.  So, being a nice hot sunny day today, I figured what better than to play with some mid day sun back lighting. 



This was taken mid-afternoon around 2pm...obviously tons of sunlight;
50 mm SS 500 f2.2 ISO 100

Scavenger Hunt!

It's Sunday & Scavenger Hunt is complete!


1. Bokeh (POTW)

I was glad to grab this shot early last week because every other day had been raining or cloudy. This was a particular sunny morning, but it was only minutes after getting this shot that it rained cats & dogs!

2. Business

I was tempted here to take a shot of a "it's laundry day!" sign on the laundry room  door :P As having worked for Prudential for 13 years would have had endless opportunities to photo business stuff...but no...my place of business now is my kitchen, laundry room etc... So having much animosity over this topic I got lazy...So here you have it, a boring shot of darling husband's boring business cards.

3. Eco-Friendly

Our neighborhood street lights have all been recently adorned with solar panels for power! Here is a shot where I wanted to showcase not only the panel but the *solar/sun* energy as well. I was really happy with this shot till darling husband says "eh, it's OK" Geesh, what a downer :P I hope you guys like it more than he did..lol!

4. Repetition

I wasn't sure what to do for this item this week...till then, library books came to mind because they are *repeatedly* being check out!

5. Music



So excited to shoot my guitar, I just had to share 2 :)

Have a lovely Sunday!

Photo Freak: Eyes

My first entry over at Photo Freak....Here she is again, as how appropriate a topic of *eyes*



If you're a photo freak too, be sure to check out here blog :)

Black & White Wednesday

I know I'm a little late on this one...but just noticed the linky on (thanks Traci) an efriend's blog!  So therefore, this is my first entry over at The Long Road to China, for the Black & White Wednesdays challenge!


Here's a shot of Maddie from my archives. I took this early spring this year. But just recently converted it to B&W :)

Hop over to The Long Road to China and see some other wonderful B&W shots!

POTW: Bokeh

This week's topic; Bokeh...Here's my interpretation...

OooOo lookie, it blends in with the background ;)

Raw(e) photo challenge: PINK

It's something pink today at Raw(e)!
Here's my pick and of course all submissions must have NO EDITING AT ALL!


Here's my Maddie of course, being pinker than ever :0)

Go check out some more pinkie pics today at Raw(e)

In a Yellow House photo challenge: Trees

This weeks topic...Trees!

Visit some more lovely tree entries today with Ashley hosting once again for "In a Yellow House" :)





This shot came straight to mind....One of my favorite pictures that I took from our recent trip to Virginia.  This was in Colonial Williamsburg...There's John & Jason in the distance.  Leaving without me of course because I was too busy taking pictures ;)

Yay, we went to the beach!

Now that the summer is coming to an end...we finally made it there! Jason's favorite part, the ocean...diving, swimming, getting crushed by the waves...Maddie's favorite part, making sand castles, burying Daddy's feet in the sand, & playing w/ her shovel & pail...Mommy & Daddy's favorite part, watching them of course!


One of my favorites of the day :)




Jason seriously could have spent the entire day in this spot, just wading in the water. There were actually little guppies in the water here he kept chasing!




She just couldn't get back to her little spot fast enough! More water of course to make a proper sand castle (a mound more than a castle actually).
Nobody really wanted to look at the camera today, but for once I was OK with that we were all busy having too much fun :D

Trendy Treehouse top 10!

I can't believe my photo made the top 10 this week...for some reason I just wasn't expecting it with this shot!  The topic last week was *My favorite things*  Here's a pic of my favorite drawing books :)  Not too shabby, it made no. 5...yippee!!!

I Heart Faces: "Beach Fun!"

Well at I Heart Faces, this week's challenge is "Beach Fun!"  I'm excited because for the first time this year, this past Saturday we took a trip to the beach :)  The kids had so much fun & so did Mom & Dad...I got a bunch of good pics from this day, but I have to admit that the candid moment in this particular shot of darling daughter makes me LOL! So, here you have it!


You can visit I Heart Faces today to enjoy some more "beach fun!!"

Scavenger Hunt!

OoOooo it's that time again...


1. Leading lines, also POTW. 

This was a fun spontaneous shot, taken at a trip this week to our favorite local pond. Here's Maddie of course striking a pose in between feeding the ducks :)

2. Something comfortable.

After consulting with my much esteemed photography assistant...Madelynn Marie...When asked, "what the heck can we photograh that is comfortable?" Inwhich she replied "we MUST take a picture of me and my blankie!" How could I refuse, after all she is my *go-to* girl :D

3. Feet.  Well,  at first I didn't think I could get anything remotely interesting until I started chasing darling daughter around the house with my camera, here's a few, I just simply could not pick one!




Maddie, modeling her brand new socks...can you guess what day this was :O


Love these lil toes in the bubble bath!

4. Sight.

Not sure what to photograph for this topic...I shot darling husband's cool glasses a few weeks ago for "glass," & didn't want to repeat that. Then I took some pics of my contact lens cases, didn't like that . Until I fell upon this picture the other day... Maddie had been calling me & I didn't hear her. Of course she began to get upset...(poor girl) When I finally arrived in her room she, says so sadly "Mommy, how come you didn't hear me calling you?" The first thing that came to my mind that, wow, I had been a *sight* for these sore, sore eyes!


5. Something sweet!

I should call this scavenger hunt "ode to Madelynn!" Seriously, how is it that she made her way in 4 out of 5 of this topics?! You could even count the last one technically, they were *her* lolly-pops.

Raw (e): Green

Over at Raw (e). The theme this week is "green!"  Here's one of mine that I feel encompasses well, something green...Maddie in a field of green grass on a recent trip to a local park. Of course for this challenge, this pic has been untouched...NO edits allowed.


Visit some more cool green pics today at Raw(e)!

Thats why I love...

doing our weekly scavenger hunt;

At the beginning of each week I always start off feeling stressed out and full of anxiety.  Thinking to myself "these 5 items are impossible, forget about...I'm skipping this week!" This is exactly how I felt this week..."leading lines," I felt was nearly impossible...I live in the suburbs and lets face it, there just aren't any *pretty* lines around here that could be followed. Then, "feet," seriously, I've never photographed feet before, so I felt this would never happen.  And trying to coerce Maddie or Jason to get their pictures taken lately has been a challenge in itself :P  Lastly the one I've been struggling with is "sight!" Really, how the hell does one photograph sight?!?  So, I've been pondering much over this one especially and hope to come up with a descent shot for this topic!

So the point in this posting...I'm so glad that I get the chance to be part of our weekly scavenger hunt.  I'm so new to photography, & this is such an excellent way to challenge myself both intellectually, because I like to think "outside of the box," regarding each item & of course photographically, because I wouldn't be running around like a lunatic trying to photograph darling daughter's feet otherwise! 

Can't wait till Sunday to see if this week's been a photog success or complete failure.  (& heck, if it is a failure, there's always next week!)

POTW: "Leading Lines!"

Leading Lines is the topic for this weeks picture of the week! I always try to get my shot during the week, to keep my self challenged...& I almost gave up, until we took a trip to our local pond and captured this shot of  darling daughter, being sassy as always ;)  So, here you have it!


I was also contemplating submitting this one...It was taken at a museum in the springtime & is one of my favorite "leading lines" picture. Couldn't pass up the opportunity of getting some shots next to this gorgeous railing!

OR... this one, a really cool helicopter from a balloon launch, during the summer solstice fair!

In a Yellow House: "Arts -N- Crafts!"

In a Yellow House, today's topic is "Arts & Crafts!"   What a coincidence that I can also incorporate *my favorite things* into today's challenge In a Yellow House, as I did for the Trendy Treehouse!

It's funny because when I hear the phrase "arts & crafts." I kind of don't think it applies to me that much. As I'm sooo NOT crafty. At. All! & am in awe & am envious of anyone who can craft, sew, etc....However I do love art so here are my drawing books & sketches :)


Visit Ashley today for some more "arts & craft" shots In a Yellow House!

Shutter Love Tuesdays: "My Favorite Things!"

Today at the Trendy Treehouse, the topic is "My Favorite Things!" So of course my drawing books came straight to mind...So this morning I took a few snap shots, & here they are :)


Check out some more favorite things today at the Trendy Treehouse!

I Heart Faces: "Got to Wear Shades!"

It was a hard decision...but here you have it, Maddie wearing Mommy's shades! It was a blazing sunny day at the playground, gotta wear shades!
Visit some more awesome "shades" at I Heart Faces!

Scavenger Hunt!

Here we are, it's Sunday already. Where the heck did this week go!?



Here is our first item.."Mood" also POTW...Maddie of course, in one of her moods that day she had been upset and was gazing out the window..pondering what ever it is that 5 year old ponders... I was glad to have captured this moment, I really do love this shot of her...

 "Something Masculine." Darling husbands dumb-bells.

And of course can't have something masculine, without having "Something Feminine." I decided with this one, to practice self portrait...so here is my favorite shirt, paired with my favorite necklace.

Next up was "First or Last Initial." I decided to sketch a picture of the letter J...as I just simply couldn't find a letter J to shoot. & drawing is my other passion, so why not just create a J myself!

Lastly "Architecture." Here is a shot of a pretty building from our recent trip to Colonial Williamsburg :)


Have a wonderful weekend!